Carrie Underwood Breaks Down While Singing ‘Softly and Tenderly’ for Vegas Victims at CMAs

Carrie Underwood gave one of the standout performances at the 2017 CMA Awards with a stunning performance of the gospel classic, "Softly and Tenderly," in memory of the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Brad Paisley promised before the show that Underwood would provide one of the biggest moments of the show, and Underwood did not disappoint. Clad in an elaborate white dress, Underwood delivered the song simply, but powerfully over a stark piano arrangement that was lifted into the stratosphere by a string arrangement that joined in midway through the song.

A memorial montage of country music stars and music business personalities who died in 2017 scrolled on the screen behind her as she sang, but the crowning moment of the performance came when pictures of the victims of the Vegas shooting on Oct. 1 flashed onscreen. Underwood modulated into a higher key to bring even more power to her performance, and briefly lost her voice as the emotion of the moment overcame her before recovering to finish. She was wiping away tears as the camera pulled away from a darkened stage, with the audience at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville stunned into silence as they lit up the venue with candles they held aloft in tribute to those we've lost.